WBA Light Heavy Eliminator Added To Hopkins vs. Cloud

ByBoxing Press

A WBA light heavyweight elimination bout featuring two undefeated fighters, Ryan “The Irish Outlaw” Coyne (21-0, 9 KOs), from St. Louis, and Marcus Oliveira (24-0-1, 19 KOs), from Lawrence, Kan., has been added to the March 9 card in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center headlined by future Hall of Famer Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs), from Philadelphia, taking on undefeated IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs), from Tallahassee, Fla.

The winner of Coyne vs. Oliveira, scheduled for 10 rounds, will become the No. 1-rated light heavyweight by the WBA and the mandatory challenger to its champion, Beibut Shumenov.

Coyne gained attention while campaigning as a cruiserweight when he was chosen to participate in the fourth season of the popular television series The Contender where he fought into the semi-finals before suffering an accidental headbutt that forced him to leave the competition.

In his final fight at cruiserweight, Coyne captured the WBC United States Championship after winning a unanimous decision over previously undefeated David McNemar on June 25, 2011. Coyne has maintained his perfect record by notching three victories since moving down to the 175-pound limit.

Oliveira has shown considerable power by winning 19 of his 25 matches by knockout, achieving an 82% knockout ratio. Oliveira scored a pair of third-round knockouts in fights against his most notable opponents: former cruiserweight world champion Kelvin “Concrete” Davis in 2008 and Antwun Echols on Jan. 28, 2012.

Hopkins vs. Cloud, a 12-round fight for Cloud’s IBF light heavyweight title, will take place Saturday, March 9 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Don King Productions and sponsored by Corona, AT&T and Ford. The co-main event will be a 12-round fight between top-rated contender Keith Thurman and former world champion Jan Zaveck for Zaveck’s WBO Intercontinental welterweight championship.

Tickets, priced at $200, $100, $80, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, are available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center, all Ticketmaster locations, or by calling 800-745-3000.